As we inspire a world of belonging at PALS and within the local communities we serve, we are so grateful to team up with partners who contribute to the mission of our organization. We would especially like to thank the Casino Night team at PALS Philadelphia. They first came to PALS in 2013 thanks to an introduction from a volunteer, and have continued to join us each summer with spectacular programming. In 2013, Tom teamed up with his friends, family, and colleagues to launch the first Casino Night at PALS Princeton. Over the past 8 years, their team has put on such fun, creative programming, and each year, it gets even better! Especially this summer, the Casino Night team did a fantastic job adjusting to our model of programming including wearing PALS Casino Night masks! We asked the team “WHY PALS?” and how partnering with PALS has impacted their lives. Check out what Tom said on behalf of their team:
“Hello PALS Family!
My name is Tom and I, along with my team of family and friends, have coordinated and run "Casino Night" at PALS NJ for the last 8 years!
How did we get here? Our PALS journey started with a simple outreach program where we coordinated a technology day for PALS to teach young adults how to write resumes, email and safely use different forms of social media in 2013. We had so much fun with that event we reached right back out to PALS and asked what more we could do. They mentioned that at the New Jersey program, they usually do a Casino Night to help teach some fundamentals of math, counting, etc... We jumped at the opportunity!
Fast forward 8 years, and we've run 7 different Casino Nights with amazing support from the Orecchio, Huhn and Shimsky families as well as our amazing volunteers that come out year after year. We are still motivated and coming up with new ways to theme, innovate and make our Casino Night better each year. With the help of other local families and businesses, we would love to branch out from NJ and bring our Casino Night to other Camps!
It wasn't a coincidence that what started as a one time outreach initiative developed into something that we all look forward to doing every year. There's something so special about PALS and the PALS community that keeps us coming back. We love watching the pure joy and excitement radiate from the participants. Not only that, we as dealers have a ton of fun working with everyone and reminiscing about the experiences.
Finally, I have to mention all of the amazing PALS volunteers that we love working with each year. The effort and love they put into these programs is incredible and we're just happy we can be a part of it.
In July 2021, we hosted our first COVID-friendly casino night. This year threw us some challenges! And like all of us, we had to adapt.
Our main goal was to make sure we could keep all of our players and dealers as safe as possible given the current environment. The day was such a great success and because we had to make a change to the normal play, we ended up with some great lessons learned that we'll be able to bring with us next year when we're back!
We all truly cherish our PALS relationship and are excited to continue to grow in our involvement and support in the years to come!
Cheers!
-Tom Orecchio”
If you would like to partner with PALS, email support@palsprograms.org. We’d love to chat with you more!